Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 4849391. That “Cush” signifies the fallacies of the senses, n. 1163,1164, 1166.)[4] In Ezekiel:When I passed by thee, and saw thee, I covered thy nakedness, andI washed thee, and I clothed thee. But thou didst trust in thy beauty andplay the harlot, and thou hast not remembered the things of the youth,when thou wast naked and bare; thou that committed whoredom withthe sons of Egypt, and with the sons of Asshur. And thou hastmultiplied thy whoredom even unto Chaldea. Moreover, thy nakednesswas revealed through thy whoredoms. Therefore they shall stone theewith stones, and shall cut thee in pieces with swords; and shall burn upthine houses with fire (16:6, seq.).Jerusalem is here treated of, by which the church in respect todoctrine is meant, and these and many other expressions in thesame chapter describe what the church was in its beginning, andwhat it became when it turned away from good and from truth.What the church was when it was established by the Lord, thuswhat it was in the beginning, is described by these words, “When Ipassed by thee, and saw thee, I covered thy nakedness, I washedthee and clothed thee.” “To cover the nakedness” signifies toremove the evils of the will and the falsities of the understanding;“to wash” signifies to purify from evils, and “to clothe” signifies toinstruct in truths. But what the church became when it turnedaway from good and truth is described by what follows; “thou didsttrust in thy beauty” signifies intelligence from one’s own (exproprio), and that this gave delight; “committing whoredom”signifies that thus it was imbued with falsities; “committingwhoredom with the sons of Egypt, and with the sons of Asshur,”signifies falsifications confirmed by knowledges and by thingsrational therefrom; “multiplying whoredom even unto Chaldea”signifies even to the profanation of truth. The shows what issignified by “Moreover thy nakedness was revealed through thywhoredoms,” namely, that the church through falsities andfalsifications was deprived of all the understanding of truth. “Theyshall stone thee with stones” signifies that the church will diethrough falsities “they shall cut thee in pieces with swords” signifiesthat the church will utterly die through the falsifications of truth;